Glove with applique

ABSTRACT

A glove, in particular a sports glove of driving glove, having an appliqué containing at least one noble metal on the outer side of the glove, is provided.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a glove, in particular a sports glove, having an appliqué of noble metal on the outer side of the glove.

2. Description of Related Art

Generic gloves are known from the prior art. The like gloves are usually equipped with an appliqué that is perceivable to the sense of touch and having, e.g., the form of a button or part of a button. An appliqué mostly is only a decorative, fashionable accessory intended to produce an esthetic effect but may sometimes also have a functional purpose, e.g., in the fixation and/or adjustment of the close fit of the glove. Customarily, such appliqués are made of low-cost materials such as nickel, aluminum, or metal alloys, in particular brass, or also of other materials, e.g., plastics.

Particularly under conditions of extreme exertion and/or heat, athletes and wearers of gloves in general will exhibit a tendency to wipe the forehead or other parts of the body with the back of the glove or the glove's wrist part, which moreover frequently involves contact of the skin with the appliqué. As the appliqué mostly has a prominent position and is therefore exposed to pollutions by the environment, there exists a risk of an infection for the wearer owing to microbial contamination of the corresponding appliqué. In addition, such appliqués are usually manufactured of materials having an elevated resistance to crushing, which may leave imprints on the wearer's skin when wiping the brow, and cause case skin irritations which are even intensified by the pollutions on the appliqué or also by the natural body sweat. This problem can occur with all types of gloves that are equipped with an appliqué on the outer side of the glove. With particular frequency, such allergies, infections and other skin irritations triggered by an appliqué may occur in connection with the practice of highly sweat-inducing summer sports, as the glove wearer will exhibit a tendency to repeatedly wipe the forehead with the glove in order to remove the sweat, to thereby in particular prevent the unpleasant experience of beads of sweat getting into the eyes. In the case of hay fever patients, an increased skin contact with the appliqué independently of the physical exertion may occur in the facial area if the wearer uses the glove in an attempt to dab away the excretions of the mucous membranes of the nose accumulating at the tip of the nose. But the phenomenon of the so-called “running nose” is also known in the practice of winter sports, so that the glove (e.g., skiing glove) is here also frequently used to wipe the nose.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The inventor has realized that it would be advantageous to provide a glove that is capable of minimizing the wearer's risk of allergies and infections or other skin irritations due to appliqués.

In accordance with the invention, this problem is solved in that the appliqué is manufactured of a noble metal, with especially gold having been found to be of particular advantage. The solution in accordance with the invention is based on the surprising finding that athletes wearing gloves that have an appliqué made of gold suffer less frequently from skin irritations, inflammations, rashes, or other infections of the skin in the area of skin contact than wearers of gloves having an appliqué of hitherto utilized materials.

Accordingly, the present invention concerns a glove, in particular a sports glove, having an appliqué on the outer side of the glove, wherein at least the surface thereof is substantially comprised of noble metal. If only the surface of the appliqué is substantially comprised of noble metal, it may be a matter of a corresponding plating or coating deposited on the appliqué. This plating or coat may be applied on the appliqué by the methods known in the art, for instance by vapor deposition, spraying, or immersion.

In one embodiment, the entire appliqué is substantially comprised of noble metal. Preferably, the noble metal is silver, gold, platinum, and/or a mixture of these. Advantageously, pure noble metals are used because these were found to have less allergenic potential in comparison with metal alloys. It is particularly preferred if the noble metal or mixture, respectively, contains gold.

The production of gold-containing mixtures is known to the person skilled in the art and may be effected, e.g., by simply adding the metals together in a desired ratio of quantities, and subsequently melting the metals in a furnace, optionally under a protective furnace gas.

In a particularly preferred embodiment, the appliqué or at least the surface thereof entering into contact with the surroundings is made substantially entirely of gold.

The appliqué is advantageously attached at or on the back of the glove and/or at the wrist, with at least a part of the appliqué being visible. Preferably only the surface of the appliqué, or at least the visible part thereof, is substantially comprised of gold.

In addition to the surprisingly observed reduction in the occurrence of skin irritations, an increase, particularly of the esthetic lifetime of the appliqués of the present invention, was noted, particularly when they are made of gold. This is due, for instance, to the noble metal's resistance to sweat. Whereas the appeal and esthetic-cultural functionality of customary appliqués may be degraded by oxidation due to the glove wearer's body sweat, the appliqués of the glove in accordance with the present invention, which are preferably manufactured of gold, remain unaffected thereby.

Typically, the appliqué is a shaped article or includes such a shaped article. Shaped articles within the meaning of the present invention may be preformed, punched, extruded, lasered, milled, filed, or manufactured by using generally known injection molding and diecasting techniques. The shaped article may have any form, such as of a logo, button, or any other three-dimensional geometrical shape. It may have both planar and angular but also circular and/or spherical boundaries.

Methods for manufacturing appliqués in accordance with the present invention as well as those embodiments including shaped articles are known to those of skill in the art.

Advantageously, the appliqué and/or the shaped article serves to designate, individualize, or identify the glove or its wearer. This additional advantage may on the one hand be exploited for enhancing the esthetic value and may on the other hand be used purposely, for example in publicity. Thus, the glove of the invention may be characterized particularly by the characteristic configuration of the appliqué, e.g., by using an individually shaped article.

In addition to the advantageous minimization of the risk of allergies, infections, and other skin irritations that is achieved by wearing the glove of the present invention, and the visual effect that an appliqué having a particular configuration triggers in the wearer of the glove or his/her social environment, the appliqué may serve further technical functions by constituting, e.g., part of a closure means. In this sense it may serve for adjusting a close fit of the glove of the invention. In one embodiment, the closure means is a push-button. Push-buttons within the meaning of the present invention are known in the art.

As can be already inferred from the above description of the technical problem, the appliqué of the invention preferably serves for designating, individualizing, and/or identifying the glove or its wearer. In a preferred embodiment, the appliqué is applied to the back of the glove or back of the wrist. In particular embodiments, the appliqué may preferably be attached to the narrow longitudinal side of the glove, however preferably not on the palm side of the glove or inner side of the wrist.

In one embodiment, the appliqué of the invention is not a closure means for gloves such as a clip, hook, or push-button. In another embodiment of the glove of the invention, the appliqué may be integrated with a closure means, for example by being applied to a hook-and-loop type fastener, however does not form a part proper of the closure means itself, for example as a push-button or clip or hook, respectively.

Moreover, in accordance with the present invention at least that part of the appliqué serving for designating, individualizing, and/or identifying the glove or its wearer is visible on the glove and comprised of a noble metal, preferably gold.

The appliqué may furthermore be used in order to fasten gloves in accordance with the invention to each other and/or to another piece of clothing, or in order to fasten an accessory thereto. Accordingly, the present invention also relates to the use of a presently defined appliqué for regulating the close fit of a glove, for fastening the glove to another piece of clothing, and/or for fastening an accessory to the glove.

Gloves in accordance with the invention may be, but are not limited to, for example: golf gloves, riding gloves, cross-country running or skiing gloves, bicycle gloves, tennis gloves, sailing gloves, fitness gloves, downhill skiing gloves, outdoor gloves, gloves for Nordic Walking and hiking, badminton, baseball, weightlifting, shooting, e.g., archery, as well as gloves for automobilists.

Gloves to preferably be equipped with an appliqué of the invention are those worn in practicing the sports of cycling, riding and sailing, as well as gloves that are worn for driving a car. Namely, in the practice of these sports, but also when driving a car, the ability of wiping sweat from the forehead by a swift and reflex-type movement is of particular importance, for the bicycle handlebar, the reins in the case of riding, the lines in sailing, or the steering wheel of the automotive vehicle may only be released for very brief instances and preferably only with one hand.

Gloves suited to be equipped with an appliqué in accordance with the invention are known in the prior art; see, for example, German applications and utility models DE 203 10 088 U1, DE 200 07 256 U1, DE 101 14 547 A1, DE 41 20 782 A1, EP 1 493 345 A1, DE 20 2006 017 022 U1; the disclosure content of all of these are incorporated herein by reference.

A general depiction of a glove according to the invention is provided in FIG. 1. In FIG. 1, a top view of a glove of the invention having an appliqué is shown. The schematic representation is of a glove 1 having a flap 2 located on the back of the glove 1. This flap 2 can be a Velcro® fastener provided with an appliqué 3 of gold on its back side. 

1. A glove, including an appliqué on the outer side of the glove, wherein at least the surface of the appliqué is substantially comprised of at least one noble metal.
 2. The glove according to claim 1, wherein the noble metal is gold.
 3. The glove according to claim 1, wherein the appliqué includes a shaped article.
 4. The glove according to claim 1, which is a sports glove.
 5. The glove according to claim 1, which is a golf glove, riding glove, cross-country running or skiing glove, bicycle glove, tennis glove, sailing glove, fitness glove, downhill ski glove, outdoor glove, glove for Nordic Walking and hiking, glove for badminton, baseball glove, weightlifting glove, shooting glove, or a glove for automobilists.
 6. The glove according to claim 1, wherein the appearance of the appliqué is designed to designate, individualize, or identify the glove or its wearer.
 7. The glove according to claim 1, wherein the appliqué is part of a closure means for the glove.
 8. The glove according to claim 1, wherein the appliqué is attached to the back of the glove or to the back of the glove's wrist part.
 9. The glove according to claim 1, wherein the appliqué is substantially comprised of at least one noble metal.
 10. The glove according to claim 9, wherein the noble metal is gold.
 11. The glove according to claim 9, wherein the appliqué includes a shaped article.
 12. The glove according to claim 9, wherein in that the appearance of the appliqué is designed to designate, individualize, or identify the glove or its wearer.
 13. The glove according to claim 9, wherein the appliqué is part of a closure means.
 14. The glove according to claim 9, wherein the appliqué is attached to the back of the glove or to the back of the glove's wrist part.
 15. The glove according to claim 9, which is a sports glove.
 16. The glove according to claim 9, which is a golf glove, riding glove, cross-country running or skiing glove, bicycle glove, tennis glove, sailing glove, fitness glove, downhill ski glove, outdoor glove, glove for Nordic Walking and hiking, glove for badminton, baseball glove, weightlifting glove, shooting glove, or a glove for automobilists. 